


That Which Survives:  Plague Ship

by Cheree_Cargill



Series: Glimpses of a Life [69]
Category: Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: F/M, Influenza, Medical Procedures, Quarantine, That Which Survives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-06
Updated: 2018-09-06
Packaged: 2019-07-07 17:31:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15912960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cheree_Cargill/pseuds/Cheree_Cargill
Summary: The unknown virus that wiped out Losira's people strikes the Enterprise after the landing party is beamed up.  It's a race against time before it does the same to Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the rest of the people exposed.





	That Which Survives:  Plague Ship

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: The Star Trek characters are the property of Paramount Studios, Inc. The story contents are the creation and property of Cheree Cargill and is copyright (c) 2018 by Cheree Cargill. This story is Rated PG.

_Stardate:_ _5701._ _5._ _Personal Log._ _First Officer Spock recording._

Captain Kirk, Dr. McCoy and Lt. Sulu were the first to collapse with the disease that has been dubbed Kalandan Influenza. They had been directly exposed to the virus the longest and had all come into close contact with the soil of the planetoid Kalanda. Ensign Lemli, who had beamed down with me once we had returned to orbit, came down with it next. This was forty-three hours, approximately, after his exposure to the dust containing the deadly virus that Dr. McCoy had detected following the first landing party's exploration.

By the time the sickness began to strike, multiple other crewmembers had been exposed, for we had remained in orbit of the small artificial world and numerous landing parties had been sent down to take readings and bring back samples. The normal procedures were followed to avoid contamination, but we had no idea how deadly the virus would be to Humans. We should have known, though. It had wiped out Losira's people.

Within seventy-six hours, our crewmembers were falling sick. I myself was only partially immune. I began to feel the effects but fought to stay in command and call for help. The medical ship _Clara Barton_ was dispatched by Starfleet and reached us two days later. By that time, fourteen crewmembers had died of the disease. Kirk, McCoy, Sulu and Lemli were all in comas and in cryogenic stasis. The medical staff were all working in quarantine suits, but not before Drs. M'Benga and Sanchez were both stricken and three nurses had collapsed.

I was feeling more and more ill as we waited for the _Barton_ , but I forced myself to stay on the bridge, now wearing a quarantine suit to prevent spreading the disease to the other bridge personnel. My fever was climbing steadily and my head pounded ferociously. Worse, it was becoming harder to breathe as fluid filled my lungs and I coughed continuously. I had developed pneumonia as the virus attacked my respiratory system. My ribs ached abominably as I struggled to pull in oxygen and breathe it back out.

We were working with a skeleton crew as the disease spread throughout the ship. Everyone not already infected wore surgical masks that hopefully would prevent them breathing in the virus. Periodically, a ghostly white figure would appear on the bridge and jam a hypo against my arm. It was Nurse Chapel, doing her best to keep me going until help got to us. She would take a reading with her medical scanner, and then go to check the three others still working at their stations. Lt. Uhura had managed to stay at her console and Lt. Hadley was manning the helm. Chekov was holding down the fort at the science station. Other bridge personnel would come and go, but I was too sick to take note of who they were. It was all I could do to remain in the command chair and not pass out.

I remained there until the medical ship arrived, falling into orbit behind us, and then I could hang on no longer. My world went black around me and I felt myself slide out of the command chair and collapse onto the deck.

_Stardate:_ _5706._ _8._ _Personal Log._ _First Officer Spock recording._

I am in the quarantined section of the _Barton's_ intensive care unit. I have been in a coma for five days as the doctors struggled to find a cure for the disease. They have not succeeded, but they have treated the symptoms of the influenza as the next best thing. My lungs are finally clear of pneumonia and my fever has been reduced to a normal range of body temperature. Fortunately, the _Barton_ had a Vulcan healer among its medical complement and she has been attending me. At one point, I had fallen into a healing trance and she managed to pull me back from the brink with a deep mind meld. I was too weak to come out of the trance in a normal manner and would have died without her assistance.

The Captain, McCoy, Sulu and Lemli have all survived. They are still quarantined and remain "too weak to sling a cat", as Dr. McCoy would undoubtedly say. However, I have been told that they are recovering, as are M'Benga, Sanchez, and the rest of our crew. Dr. Levi, the chief medical officer of the _Barton_ , has told me that this disease is similar to the pandemic Spanish flu that killed millions on Earth during their first World War in 1918 through 1920.

Kalanda has been declared a quarantined planet and warning buoys have been deployed to prevent any other ships from approaching. There was discussion of recovering D'Amato's body from where he had been buried after Losira had killed him, but it was decided to leave him there. It was too risky to bring his body back aboard and transport it to Earth for re-burial. The corpse was thoroughly contaminated by now and there was too much danger in spreading the disease to other planets and ships.

Meanwhile, there is nothing for me to do but stay in bed and recover my strength. I barely have the stamina to stay awake and move my limbs. I remain on an IV drip and an oxygen mask. I am told that I may remain here for about ten days before I am recovered enough to be released.

Nurse Chapel has been to see me several times as she checks up on the rest of our affected crew. Once I was asleep and awoke to find her looking down at me, her gloved hand resting gently atop my own, pressing very slightly against my fingers. Her blue eyes were visible through the clear face mask that she wore and she was smiling at me. I couldn't get any words out through the respirator that was helping me breathe, but her filtered voice said softly, "You're getting better, Spock. Hang on!" I tried to respond, but she shook her head and ordered me back to sleep. It was a command I readily obeyed.

I find comfort in her presence but, while there is an added note of concern for me, she is projecting complete professionalism in doing her job and seeing to all those affected by the disease. She had avoided contracting the virus herself by donning protective gear and a quarantine mask as soon as she began to realize the transmission vector of the disease and as medical personnel began to show signs of illness. Unfortunately, it was already too late for most of the sick bay staff.

The _Enterprise_ remains in orbit around Kalanda and will need to be decontaminated thoroughly. We are awaiting a maintenance ship to arrive. All personnel will need to be removed and the ship drained of air and fresh atmosphere pumped in. Then a team will go in and spray disinfectant on all surfaces. There is no guarantee that this will rid us completely of the Kalandan virus, but it is the best we can do.

For now, however, there is nothing more to add to this log. I think I will sleep some more. I am so tired…

THE END


End file.
